Break the Law For Me [completed]

t h r e e

Gerard's timetable ^ [Art 1 is Frank's class]

The last fifty minutes of the day, English, had been more bearable than the previous six. At least their teacher, Miss Wells, had allowed them to listen to music while they studied.

Now, he dragged his feet along the floor as he trailed back to art, kind of annoyed that he had to spend any extra time in the building. He yanked open the doors to the art rooms, walking in to 169a.

Mr Way was fixated on papers at his desk, a hand raked through his hair to keep it from his face and the other was furiously scribbling across the page, threatening to tear a hole in it.

"Hi," Frank greeted, slipping his bag off his shoulder and throwing it under a table. He noted the teacher's demeanour. "Stressful first day?"

Mr Way's head snapped up, his eyes piercing through Frank until his expression softened and a small smile appeared on his face. "Yeah, I had a hectic photography class."

"At least you survived." Frank joked, in an attempt to lighten the mood. He looked down. "I thought you were only taking our class? You have two?"

"Three, actually." Mr Way breathed, setting the pen down and sorting the papers back in to a plastic wallet. "Your class, another art class and a photography class."

"That's a lot." Frank commented, wondering how he was taking it all on in his first time teaching.

"Yeah, I feel so stupid for doing it." He rubbed his eyes, covering his face with his hands. "It is way too much right now, but I need the money. I'm-" He stopped, folding his arms on the desk. "Sorry, you don't care. I'll get you what you need."

"Thanks." Frank nodded, then sat down, staring at his hands. "What is it that I'm doing?"

Mr Way scratched the back of his neck, cocking his head to the side. "Well, as for last year's, you're gonna be studying 'still life'." He sighed, wandering over to the drawers near the windows and beginning to search through them for A3 cartridge paper. "Trust me; it's as fun as it sounds."

Letting out a deep breath, his chest sank and he could already feel the boredom and dread clawing at his mind. "Thought so."

"First, you're going to have to take pictures of objects that'll be included in your final piece, these will go on the first sheet." He spread the paper out on the table. "For the second sheet, you'll have to fill it with compositions, using mixed media. Finally, for the third sheet, it's putting together what you've learnt in to a final piece."

"Okay. . ." Frank blew a few strands of hair from his face as Mr Way placed his hands on the edge of the table, leaning forwards a little. "What sort of things do I have to take pictures of?"

"Anything from the shelf, really. So stuff like cups, cutlery, different foods, plates. . . You know?" Mr Way raised an eyebrow at Frank's totally phased out expression. "I told you this was going to be fun."

Restraining a yawn, Frank laughed quietly. "Too right." He went over in his head what he had to do. "Am I using one of the school cameras for photos?"

Mr Way nodded.

"Where am I gonna get the food from? Shall I bring stuff in?"

Standing up straight, he shook his head. "Believe it or not, Mr Wright said there's a box from last year."

"Of old food? Old mouldy food?" Pushing his chair out, Frank stood and followed Mr Way in 169b.

"Apparently."

Luckily, when they walked in, they were the only ones there. Not a teacher or fellow student in sight. They began taking boxes off the shelves and sorting through various objects for Frank to photograph for 'still life'. Honestly, while they were rummaging through old boxes, Frank was disappointed that there wasn't a more exciting project for him to work on, although he didn't mind too much. The more he thought about it, he rather would have been there with Mr Way than go home to an empty house.

When they'd gathered enough things and Mr Way had dug out the correct boxes, they started arranging the rock hard food (that were only stale) in to random compositions and Frank snapped pictures, which they then uploaded through a USB cable on to Mr Way's computer and he printed them out in colour.

"Hey, Frank?" Mr Way called as Frank collected the sheets from the printer in the middle room.

"Yeah?" His head popped out of the door frame, followed by the rest of him as he shuffled back in the room.

Mr Way's gaze flicked to the clock on the wall. "It's quarter to five, I should get going."

"Oh," Frank frowned, "Me too, I guess." His mood plummeted even more when he noticed the pattering of rain on the roof and he looked out of the window to see it pouring down, the sky a gloomy grey. "That's gonna be great walking home." He deadpanned, a deep sigh escaping his chapped lips. He took his lip ring between his teeth as he returned to his bag to pack away.

Grabbing a new folder (fancier and more secure than the ones usually used in lessons), Mr Way parked it on the table, to which Frank glanced up and smiled, "Thanks."

Once he'd tidied everything away, he turned around to face Mr Way, who had his eyes glued to his phone, typing away furiously. Hesitantly, Frank opened his mouth to speak, deciding it wasn't inappropriate to talk casually with a teacher. "What's up?"

After a long moment of silence, he wasn't sure he'd been heard, but Mr Way's lips slowly parted as he conjured up an answer, only half listening. "Oh," he looked up, shoving his phone in to the back pocket of his jeans, "Nothing. I'm just late meeting someone."

"Sorry." A frown tugged at the corner of his lips and he felt a gush of guilt wash over him.

Though it was soon vanquished. "Don't worry; it's not your fault." Mr Way smiled faintly, snatching his satchel and slinging it over his shoulder. He and Frank joined at the door, venturing the hallways and descending the stairs together in a comfortable silence.

Frank almost grinned to himself. Perhaps staying in after school wasn't going to be so bad, however he was not looking forward to running home in the rain. He was going to be soaked.

Soon enough, they parted ways on a friendly goodbye, Mr Way speed walking to his car and Frank beginning to dash home, inconveniently splashing in every puddle he passed.

[Published 26 April 2019]
[Last edited 13 December 2019]